Report: Ben Carson Was Recruited to Be Speaker of the House

At some point in 2014, long before House Republicans offed leader John Boehner, they reportedly recruited as his replacement a man who was a mostly unknown figure at the time: Dr. Ben Carson.

The Hill says it confirmed with various sources, including Carson himself, that several unnamed GOP representatives brought Carson to Capitol Hill to clandestinely discuss replace Boehner as Speaker if they were able to oust him:

A second source with knowledge of the situation said that in 2014 “several” House conservatives summoned Carson to Capitol Hill to pitch him on the idea of becoming the next Speaker in the event that they were successful in voting the Ohio Republican out of the position in 2015.

Carson met with the Republicans, but said he turned down their offer because he was gearing up for a presidential run.

House Republicans were able to effectively remove Boehner back in September. The fight for his replacement begat a sex scandal that eventually ended with Paul Ryan, a White House hopeful himself at one point, taking the gig.

Carson, meanwhile, certainly isn’t going to be president, but as a consolation prize he’ll continue to be richer than the either the President or the Speaker combined.